CD Projekt: RPGs Should Look Better Than Shooters

In an interview with GamesBeat's Stefanie Fogel, CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski and head of marketing, Michal Platkow-Gilewsk spoke openly (or as much as they could) about the upcoming Cyberpunk RPG based on Michael Pondsmith's legendary work.

However, one of the things that Iwinski wanted to talk about was the misperception of RPGs, and how they should be setting visual standards because they're about telling a story and sometimes that idea requires a certain kind of visual fidelity to tell that story the way the artist has envisioned it...

I think we’ve created some new standards in terms of storytelling in the RPG genre, in terms of having no compromise in the way the story is being told, how we shape the world, how believable the characters are, how similar it is to what we see around us. We are really looking at totally new ideas on telling a story and involving the gamer in it. I think we’re looking at what the critics were saying and what the fans were saying. I think we’ve delivered something totally new.

Second, we don’t see any reason why RPGs should look worse than shooters. They should actually look better. The story’s always the thing, because that’s the thing which keeps you playing, but these days — and especially in the next generation when you have the new consoles, when you have the new HDTVs — you’re going to want bells and whistles on the graphical side, and we want to deliver on that as well.

CD Projekt has definitely delivered, especially in regards to The Witcher 2, which has already been hailed as one of the greatest looking games released this generation.

Now if you were hoping any of the details regarding the gameplay, story or mechanics of the upcoming cyber-punk RPG from CD Projekt RED would be spilled then you'll have to place your hope in something else because Iwinski and Gilewsk didn't say a thing about it. The only thing they did mention was that additional details about the game would be shed later on this year, so fans of the highly underappreciated cyber-punk genre or CD Projekt RED can look forward to more information before the year is out.

No release date or timeframe has been set for the new futuristic Cyberpunk RPG but don't expect to see it on store shelves until a few years from now. You can check out the entire interview over at GamesBeat.